When asked during a taped interview with police why he killed Lee Britton, Andrew James “A.J.” Cody told investigators his daughter said Britton had touched her inappropriately and that the man had been accused of child molestation in the past.

A.J. Cody, who is represented by Dover attorney Michael Robbins and Clarksville attorney Jack Patterson, has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated residential burglary in the May 18, 2012, shooting death of Britton. His trial began Monday.

Testimony on Tuesday included that of A.J.’s wife, Sheena Cody, as well as recorded interviews of A.J. Cody with state and county investigators. As the day progressed, a timeline of the events leading up to Britton’s death unfolded.

The day the alleged abuse of A.J. Cody’s daughter occurred was May 8, 2012, according to testimony by Sheena Cody. She said her daughter was in the living room watching a movie. Sheena and A.J. Cody were in the bedroom with their son watching another movie, and Britton was not home at that time.

Late that night, A.J. Cody said in a recorded interview with police, it was close to midnight when Britton came home. Their daughter was still in the living room watching TV, but came into the room with her parents about 30-40 minutes later.

Both Sheena Cody’s testimony and A.J.’s recorded police interview agreed the girl seemed upset and wanted to come get in bed with her parents. A.J. initially told her he thought she wanted to watch a movie in the living room, but the girl cried and again said she wanted to stay with her parents, so they let her.

Sheena Cody testified her daughter can be rather emotional and cries easily, so neither parent thought much of the incident at the time.

On May 12, 2012, Sheena Cody was visited at Britton’s home by a Department of Human Services (DHS) employee. The department had become aware there were children staying at Britton’s home. Sheena Cody testified the DHS worker told her the department previously had a “true finding” of Britton inappropriately touching a child, but the family did not press charges.

Because Britton was never convicted of a crime, he was not required to register as a sex offender, according to testimony Tuesday. He was, however, added to the DHS child maltreatment registry, which is not available to the public.

Sheena Cody immediately took her son from the house, she testified. She also called to tell A.J. what she had learned and told him to come out to where she was. According to A.J.’s interview with police, he talked to his daughter during the drive and asked if anyone had ever touched her in a private area.

A.J. Cody said that, without prompts, his daughter told him Britton had touched her on the evening she was in the living room watching her movie. Later in the day on May 12, he would also call and relay this information to the state’s Child Abuse Hotline.

The findings of the investigation into the allegations Britton abused A.J. Cody’s daughter were not discussed in court.

When A.J. Cody arrived at Britton’s residence, he went inside to confront him about the allegations. Sheena Cody testified she could not hear yelling from where she stood outside the home, but she did hear Britton say, “I didn’t do it.”

After gathering a few things, Sheena and A.J. Cody, along with their two children, all left and stayed the next two nights with James Cody, A.J.’s father.

Sheena Cody testified she stayed the night of May 14, 2012, at a Motel 6 room paid for by Britton. She spent May 15 at Britton’s house. On the nights of May 16 and May 17, Sheena, A.J. and their two children all stayed together in motel rooms paid for by Britton, who also provided a total of $70 for food and gas over the two nights.

During this time period, Sheena Cody testified an investigator with the Arkansas State Police came and interviewed Sheena, A.J. and their daughter about the abuse allegations.

A Pope County Sheriff’s Office investigator testified he received the case from the state on May 16 and made several unsuccessful attempts to contact A.J. Cody about the matter.

On May 18, A.J. Cody took Sheena back to Britton’s house. She testified she did not want to go back to Britton’s house, but had no other option. She said she wanted to go back to A.J.’s father’s house.

After A.J. dropped her off at Britton’s house, Sheena Cody testified she walked to a friend’s house nearby. Not long after, A.J. came by and she left with him. He stopped by a nearby pond, got out of the truck and told Sheena that he would talk to Britton and she should take the kids to his father’s house.

In A.J.’s recorded police interviews, he told investigators he went back to Britton’s house after dropping Sheena off there. She had already left the house at that time, and he left the shotgun at the house before going to pick Sheena up at her friend’s house. After leaving Sheena and the kids with his truck, A.J. made his way to Britton’s house, who arrived about 10 minutes after A.J., according to the recorded interview.

In the meantime, A.J. Cody had donned a long-sleeved shirt and put plastic grocery bags over his feet. He told investigators this was to prevent blood from getting on his clothes.

When Britton arrived, A.J. Cody confronted him, according to the police interview, and asked why his little girl would make those accusations. A.J. said that Britton responded that the girl was a “lying little (expletive).”

At that point, A.J. shot him “before I was even sure the words got out of his mouth.”

A.J. was arrested a short time later walking along U.S. Highway 64.

Other testimony Tuesday included several investigators and researchers from the Arkansas State Crime Lab.

The story clearly indicates that he knowingly left his child in the presence of one who had a molestation finding. He definitely has culpability for the event, and his presence might have been drug related. He lay-in-wait. Obviously premeditated and carefully planned, so it couldn't qualify as a crime of passion. The argument could be conceivably be argued that Cody caused the event to occur.